Facebook has come under fire for letting trolls post disparaging remarks about women to the site, but suspending female users who respond.

Hundreds of women, many of them engaging with the Me Too campaign to stamp out sexual harassment, have found their messages removed and accounts banned.

Female comedians and others have spoken out against the move, which also saw a number of protesters who posted 'men are scum' to highlight the problem banned.

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Facebook has come under fire for letting trolls post disparaging remarks about women to the site, but suspending female users who respond. A number of protesters who posted variations of 'men are scum' to highlight the problem were among those banned from the site

HOW THE PROTEST BEGAN

The Me Too campaign was launched in the wake of revelations around male celebrities, notably Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, abusing their positions to sexually harass and assault women.

Millions of people have used the hashtag #MeToo to come forward with their experiences on social media, including many celebrities.

But Facebook's moderation procedures have been called into question by the women who have received a ban for posting their thoughts.

The 'men are scum' protest began in part as a response to comic Marcia Belsky receiving a 30 day ban from Facebook in October, for using the phrase as a throwaway comment on a friend's Facebook profile.

In late November, after the issue was raised in a private Facebook group of nearly 500 female comedians, women pledged to post some variation of 'men are scum' to Facebook on November 24 in protest.

Nearly all of them were banned.

In an in-depth interview for the Daily Beast, journalist Taylor Lorenz spoke to a number of women whose accounts Facebook has suspended.

Offending messages, which have been removed, include 'men are scum', 'men are trash' and 'all men are ugly.'

Yet similar messages about women appear to remain on the site, they say.

Boston-based comedian Kayla Avery created a website and campaign group, called Facebook Jailed, based around her experiences being banned from the social network around 10 times.

Her most recent crime? Posting a message reading 'men continue to be the worst.'

Speaking to the Daily Beast, Ms Avery said: 'There was one guy who was threatening to find my house and beat me up.

'I got banned before I could even successfully report it.

'How else can we have a genuine reaction to what’s going on? Facebook is absolutely silencing women.'

In response to the claims, a Facebook spokesman told Daily Beast: 'We’ll look at ways to apply our policies in a more granular way, but we are a global platform.'

MailOnline has contacted Facebook for a further comment.

The Me Too campaign was launched in the wake of revelations around male celebrities, notably Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein, abusing their positions to sexually harass and assault women.

Millions of people have used the hashtag #MeToo to come forward with their experiences on social media, including many celebrities.

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Hundreds of women, many of them engaging with the Me Too campaign to stamp out sexual harassment, have found their messages removed and accounts banned. Facebook's moderation procedures have been called into question by women who have received a ban

But Facebook's moderation procedures have been called into question by the women who have received a ban for posting their thoughts.

The 'men are scum' protest began in part as a response to comic Marcia Belsky receiving a 30 day ban from Facebook in October, for using the phrase as a throwaway comment on a friend's Facebook profile.

After the issue was raised in a private Facebook group of nearly 500 female comedians, the women pledged to post some variation of 'men are scum' to Facebook during an online protest on November 24.

Nearly all of them were banned.

Other women who have been banned include writer and comedian Rae Sanni, who says on Facebook Jailed that she was targeted with racist abuse which wasn't removed, yet her account was suspended.

This is not the first time that the privileged position of men on Facebook has been called into question.

This is not the first time the privileged position of men has been called into question. Back in June, it was claimed that Facebook allows users to post remarks attacking black children but will ban those who direct hate speech toward white men. Pictured - CEO Mark Zuckerburg

Back in June, it was claimed that Facebook allows users to post remarks attacking black children but will ban those who direct hate speech toward white men.

The social network uses an algorithm that legislates which types of speech are deemed out of bounds and which ones are permissible, according to ProPublica.

The company is attempting to apply a uniform code that will protect each racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic grouping equally from cyberbullying and hate speech.

Critics, however, say that the unintended result is that Facebook essentially protects privileged populations while denying adequate online safety to those most in need of it.